Early Introduction
by Flitty
Summary: In the semi-finals of the Lily of the Valley Conference, Ash faces Tobias with just a little more preparation. The result is a battle that will go down in history, and a journey that will shake the earth.
1. Terrain-Dependant

**Does it really need to be said?**

* * *

Tobias said nothing as he tossed his first Pokeball, but Ash could tell that he was interested in the battle, despite the slightly condescending smirk on his face.

"Sceptile, you're up!" He yelled as the expected Darkai burst into existence. His plan was simple: Dark Void would essentially mean an instant KO, so he had to avoid that with a fast Pokemon.

"Ice Beam," Tobias said immediately, and Ash winced. Sceptile dodged without his command, but the entire battlefield iced over from the overpowered move, leaving a slippery surface that Sceptile struggled to stand up on. He followed it up with Dark Void, but Sceptile leapt over it, barely managing not to land on his head.

Ash remembered that one time Chimchar had come across this. Thankfully Sceptile had a much easier way to get the same effect. "Use Leaf Blade to make ice skates!"

Sceptile just looked at him, confused. "Uh, blades on your feet so you can't slide sideways? They're like knives pointing forward, and you stand on the blunt side," he ventured, and Sceptile shrugged back, absently ducking another Dark Void with his quick reflexes. Ash side-stepped it, having a little longer to react, as the vaguely draconic grass-type jumped once again and formed blades under his feet.

After a bit of a warm-up period, where Sceptile narrowly escaped three more Dark Voids, the grass-type was skating around the battlefield as if he'd done it his entire life, the grass receding underneath him to stop the blades from jamming. Tobias seemed agitated; he obviously didn't have an easy way to remove the ice.

"Dark Pulse," he said instead, and Darkrai used it to hit the battlefield, where it exploded with the force of a Hyper Beam. Sceptile could still skate around the edge of the field, but he couldn't get to where Darkrai was with any kind of speed, over the rocky, icy, earthy combination of terrains.

At least not on the ground. "Sceptile, go as fast as you can, turn towards Darkrai and jump at it with a Leaf Blade!"

"Prepare for attack," Tobias ordered, unsettled. For whatever reason, Ash was attacking him head-on. After seeing the strategy that he'd used in the other battles, he'd been certain that Ash was the most likely to defeat even his first Pokemon, but he'd taken the boy for a decent strategist, and it wasn't likely that he'd just given up. Whatever he had up his sleeve, it wasn't something that he could figure out.

Sceptile was now moving so fast that he was difficult to see, but he'd obviously been learning to maximise his speed in the odd situation. That was the mark of a well-trained Pokemon; adaptability. He suddenly jinked towards the middle of the ring, but Tobias was ready.

"Dark Void," he called, close to losing his composture, and Darkrai spun to face the leaf gecko, firing off a sphere of dark energy. It was visibly shaking now and Tobias cursed softly; Dark Void was a very draining attack, and it wouldn't be able to keep it up much longer.

"Block it," Ash countered, and Tobias actually sighed in relief. Sceptile pulled up its glowing blades to block the attack, but it was absorbed into his body regardless and put him to sleep. If blocking was his plan, Ash hadn't seen all his other matches, but that begged the question of how he'd lasted this long without the information that helped the other trainers get closer to beating Darkrai each match.

Considering that he'd studied Ash's fighting style and the boy had still done so well, that was very unsettling.

There was an almighty boom, and Tobias found himself staring at a cloud of smoke that he _definitely_ hadn't expected.

The smoke cleared and then... "Darkrai and Sceptile are both unable to battle! This round is a tie!"

Incredulous, Tobias tuned in the announcer.

 **"Incredible! Never have I seen a Pokemon continue using a move once it's asleep! Sceptile's Leaf Blade hit its mark on an unprepared opponent, but Sceptile was unable to land properly in its sleep. A double knockout at its finest!"**

He'd underestimated the kid.

* * *

Ash beamed as he returned Sceptile to his Pokeball. He hadn't actually expected Sceptile to knock Darkrai out, and they'd agreed to just get as much damage on the ghostly legendary before Sceptile was knocked out, but they'd come out even. Ash now officially had a Pokemon as strong as a legendary. And considering that some of his Pokemon were stronger still, if in different ways, he thought that said a lot about his skill as a trainer.

"Latios," Tobias spoke as his threw the next Pokeball. Ash tensed as the next legendary came out, and weighed his options.

Most of Ash's Pokemon wouldn't stand a chance. Latios was a dragon type, not flying, so Pikachu was out. Really, it was difficult to get a type advantage on it, but there was one Pokemon...

"Corphish, I choose you!"

The lobster-like Pokemon popped out of its Pokeball with a battle cry worthy of a Pokemon half its ferocity, and Ash was hard-pressed not to chuckle at the ridiculousness. Then it slammed a claw on the ground, which shattered.

That got its statement across. Even the legendary Latios looked nervous, although that might have had something to do with the knowledge that Darkrai had been beaten.

"Corphish, you can walk fine on ice, right?" Ash asked, and the water-type nodded in reply. "Great, see if you can get close!"

As it turned out, Corphish was faster on ice than off it, something that Ash would have to remember. After another period of getting used to the terrain, shorter than Sceptile's attempt, it was soon skating around the donut of unharmed ice like a hockey puck, launching Bubblebeams and Crabhammers whenever Latios came close enough. None of the latter connected, but the former formed a screen that obscured Latios' view and promised pain if he tried to bull through it.

Then one of Corphish's legs suddenly stopped dead, having hit a patch of ground where the ice had melted, and the Pokemon crumpled into a heap at the unexpected force. Latios dived, a purple aura surrounding it even as Tobias called, "Giga Impact!"

"Ice Beam!" Ash countered, and he swore that he could hear Tobias' muttered curse. The thought made him smirk as Latios veered off in pain, unable to risk the damage that a direct hit on the source of the cold could deal. The dragon-type coasted around the air, regaining its energy from the failed attack, and Corphish fired an Ice Beam at the ground just as Darkrai's ice conveniently melted away.

Another few seconds of struggling later, Corphish had worked out a system and was leisurely pulsing out Ice Beams, leaping between frozen patches in a manner more suited to a Politoed. Tiny lines were carved into each patch, marking the lobster Pokemon's trail.

"Get close," Tobias ordered.

Ash frowned; he'd made it pretty clear that that was a bad strategy. "Repel Latios with Bubblebeam!" he replied, but at some unseen signal, Latios glowed golden and charged through the bubbles unharmed. He bore down on Corphish, a piercing shriek emitted from his open mouth as he drew closer- "Now!"

The pattern, which Corphish had 'unknowingly' been carving into the ice, was cruelly subverted in that instant as Latios' Thunderbolt impacted an empty space, revealing his ace in the hole and leaving him open to a Crabhammer.

A vicious Crabhammer, and one that actually connected to the side of his head. Latios was blasted halfway across the field, and embedded in a wall, before it slumped into a punch-drunk hover. Tobias looked ready to call it off, but Latios stubbornly flew back into battle, worse for wear but still keeping up fairly well with Corphish's movements.

Ash grinned at his strategy - he'd noticed the patterns that Corphish made when it skated, and realised that his opponent would see it too, and try to divine where Corphish would go from that. Add a command to abandon the pattern and nothing could hit it... The first time.

He snapped back to attention as Latios glowed the purple of Giga Impact again, but this time there would be no stopping the dragon-type; he was damaged enough that he was clearly going to faint, and this was just to take out Corphish with him. "Block it with Harden!"

Latios collided with the equivalent of a brick wall, and the resulting explosion threw up the dust that had settled from Darkrai and Sceptile's final clash. Once again, there was silence as the crowd waited for the cloud to clear.

When it did, Latios was on the ground, slumped gracelessly in a small crater of its own creation. Corphish looked like one good poke would knock it over, but stood proud regardless.

It was well-justified.

* * *

 **So I started growing weary of writing about Hogwarts yet again. Sue me.**

 **The battle scene was fun to write, and I think it's creative enough to fit in the anime and balanced enough to be possible. Really the only thing stopping Sceptile from defeating Darkrai easily was Dark Void (not true, I know, but shhhhh), and I figured Corphish could punt a Latios pretty easily with its ridiculous Crabhammer, which could throw Ash before its stay at Oak's lab, where it undoubtedly trained even more.**

 **Ash's plans are often half-baked, but the plans he actually plans before the battle starts are usually very solid. Take the Counter Shield, for instance - if he'd used that ever again after Sinnoh, he'd have won the Unova league. I don't think it's too hard to believe that he can come up with a proper strategy based around Corphish's ice.**

 **Next time, I have no idea. More ice, probably. Corphish is still up and running, if barely, so Ash definitely has the edge.**


	2. Technicalities

**The following is a non-profit fan-based parody. Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z and- wait.**

Once again, Ash tuned out the announcer's praise as Tobias tossed his next Pokeball onto the field. "Slowking!"

Slowking's Pokeball reacted slowly, bouncing twice on the ground and rolling for a few feet before it finally opened. Slowking absently moved its tail as it came out, flicking the Pokeball towards Tobias, who deftly caught it.

Ash knew that Corphish wouldn't be able to defeat Slowking after the direct hit from Giga Impact, but it was against the rules to switch Pokemon. Instead, both trainer and Pokemon put on a brave face as they waited for Slowking to make the first move, Pikachu cheering from Ash's shoulder.

Something changed in Slowking's stance, and a wall suddenly separated Ash and Corphish. "It's Trick Room!" Ash called through the barrier. "Slowking's slow, so in Trick Room it'll move faster than you!"

Corphish nodded, and turned to face the blurs that were Slowking. A sudden barrage of glowing rocks impacted its head, and it shook itself, dazed.

Ash had a sudden brainwave. "Corphish, I can't think of anything! I need some help, try to come up with something!"

Corphish looked back at Ash unbelievingly, and reacted slowly to the next shower of rocks. The result was that they missed entirely. Corphish didn't notice.

"Don't give me that look! How am I supposed to know what we're dealing with? You're the one inside the room!"

"Cor corphish!" the lobster replied indignantly, blurring to avoid a Thunderbolt aimed at its head.

"You're not doing a very good job then, are you?"

"Pikachu Pika pikapi chu!"

"Corphish!"

The barrier dropped, revealing a visibly shaken Slowking and its equally upset trainer. Ash chuckled, getting back to his feet; he hadn't honestly noticed sitting down.

"How did you do that?" Tobias demanded.

"I made Corphish react slower so it could react quicker," his opponent explained matter-of-factly.

"But that's not how it works!"

"But that's how it _did_ work! Corphish, Bubblebeam!" Ash retorted, cutting off the conversation.

"Power Gem!"

As the shower of white rocks collided with the bubbles, Ash nodded. "I knew I'd seen that move before," he told his partner. "Corphish, Slowking's open without the Trick Room! Use Crabhammer to get close!"

With a battlecry, Corphish slammed both pincers on the ground, then dragged them backwards fast enough to launch itself at Slowking's head.

Then it stopped.

"Shadow Ball," Tobias called through the Trick Room. Corphish, already flying through the air, wasn't slow enough to dodge.

"Block it with Crabhammer!" Ash commanded, but the light that followed wasn't centred on Corphish's claws, and instead of Corphish, the powerful purple orb impacted a slightly bigger Pokemon.

When the light of evolution was dim enough for the trainers to squint at the battlefield, Slowking stood, scratched but otherwise unharmed, over the clearly unconscious Crawdaunt.

Ash returned Crawdaunt to its Pokeball with a heartfelt thanks, already thinking about his next Pokemon. Slowking was obviously powerful; that Shadow Ball hadn't been very effective against the dark-type Crawdaunt, but even as stubborn as it was, Crawdaunt was still knocked out by the attack.

"Pikachu, who do you think we should use?"

"Pichuka, Pikapi pikachu," his partner reasoned, and Ash grabbed the corresponding capsule.

"Snorlax, I choose you!"

Snorlax's battlecry was much more formidable than Corphish's had been, so a show of destruction wasn't especially necessary to put the fear into the hearts of his challengers.

Snorlax did it anyway.

The ground rumbled as the bear Pokemon jumped, arcing towards Slowking, who barely made it out of the way in time. "Impressive," Tobias complimented them, smirking. "Sending out a Pokemon who's immune to Shadow Ball."

"Thanks, but that's not why I sent him out. Snorlax, Body Slam again!"

Snorlax sprinted at a slightly amusing pace towards Slowking, but before he got there, the walls of Trick Room pulsed into existence once more.

Snorlax kept going.

"Curse!" Ash yelled. Snorlax sped up.

"Curse again!" Faster.

"Again!" Faster.

"Again!" And faster.

Then Body Slam hit.

The Trick Room didn't stand a chance, and for that matter, neither did Slowking. With his attack and defense augmented, Snorlax stood like a brick wall as Tobias recalled the psychic-type.

"Gengar! You're up!"

Ash was interested now. Before this point, Tobias had only called the name of his Pokemon, and he'd seemed almost bored. Now there was a gleam in his eyes that Ash associated with his rivals. Tobias was fully invested in the battle.

* * *

 **I've had this sitting around for a good few days, and decided that I can't continue properly without going into a new chapter.**

 **Next time, Snorlax vs Gengar! I'm thinking two 'X vs Y' fights is a good standard (Sceptile vs Darkrai and Corphish vs Latios for last chapter, and Corphish vs Slowking and Snorlax vs Slowking for this one), so I huess I'll continue with that.**


	3. Tricks and Teddies

**I don't own Ash, his Pokemon, or any other aspect of the Pokemon franchise. What, were you expecting a joke here?**

* * *

 **"This battle just keeps getting better!"** The announcer cried as Snorlax and Gengar faced each other. **"Incredibly, Ash and Tobias have been on almost equal footing throughout! Now, with only three Pokemon to Ash's four remaining, Tobias is actually losing a battle! Let's see how this plays out!"**

Tobias smiled, and it was the kind Ash was most used to seeing on his challengers: an adrenaline-fueled grin that he knew wouldn't come off for a while.

"Gengar, Will-o-Wisp!"

"Body Slam to block it," Ash ordered with a smile. Slowed by Curse, Snorlax didn't have many options, but Body Slam was one of them. The teddy Pokemon slammed his face into the floor, and the resulting spray of rock was enough to dissipate the oncoming flames.

"Gengar, get in close and use Will-o-Wisp as a Countershield!"

Ash groaned as Snorlax barely dodged a swipe from his patented technique. He really needed to stop being too good for his own good; the only way he could think of to remove Gengar's Countershield would be to Counter-Countershield it, but Snorlax's moves just didn't have the flexibility to pull it off.

Or at least, a single one of them didn't have the flexibility. Two, on the other hand, were more than enough. "Snorlax, use Rock Tomb on yourself, then Ice Punch!"

From out of nowhere, five gigantic slabs of rock surrounded Snorlax, leaving a surprisingly large amount of room inside before a fifth rock fell to form a roof. Tobias blinked.

"Trying to force us away from our Countershield?" He surmised, smirking as he watched Ash's face fall. "Sorry, but Gengar's flames are just as ghostly as she is! Move in!"

Wearing the tooth-filled grin shared by her species, Gengar went in for the kill, phasing right through the rock. Tobias turned to Ash...

Who suddenly flashed a thumbs up. "Hyper Beam!"

The ceiling of Snorlax's hut was blown to smithereens. Gengar, face literally frozen in a twisted horror, found herself blown sky-high, hurt not by the beam itself, but by the pelting stone chips of Rock Tomb.

Tobias tried to form words as he recalled Gengar, having been unable to even use Destiny Bond, but found that he couldn't.

Ash pointed at the smoke dissipating around Snorlax, and Tobias stopped short. "The Ice Punch," he realised in disbelief. "You replaced the air with water vapour."

He was met with silence, and glanced back to Ash, just in time to see him tilt his head. "Actually, I thought that Ice Punch would make it too cold for a fire. Why, is that wrong?"

"Close enough," Tobias deadpanned back, and Ash shrugged apologetically. Hadn't this kid ever read a book? Combustion was one of the earliest taught subjects where he came from.

Then again, fire-types ran rampant where he came from. Perhaps that lesson wasn't as necessary here. And either way, the kid was technically right. Fire did need heat too, after all.

And Gengar's fire was fueled by her own soul...

Well, it was about time to get serious.

"Ash, very well played. Now, are you ready for the real battle to begin?"

"You bet!"

* * *

 **Yes, I know I said two battles per chapter, but I wanted to get this out because reasons. Reasons that mostly involve ensuring that you all know I'm not completely dead, but reasons nonetheless.**

 **Snorlax vs Gengar went surprisingly well for Ash, all things considered. Snorlax didn't even get burned, which would have ended the battle because I was working under the assumptions that Gengar knew Will-o-Wisp, Hex, Substitute and Destiny Bond.**

 **I am sticking to the four move limit, by the way, and for Ash's team they're moves that the Pokemon already knew or could have conceivably learned within a couple of days. For Tobias' team they're all moves that the Pokemon could learn, and for Darkrai and Latios, I used the movesets given by the anime.**

 **Ash's Team:**

 **Sceptile: Leaf Blade, three unknown moves**

 **Corphish: Bubblebeam, Crabhammer, Ice Beam, Harden (Ice Beam replacing Vice Grip)**

 **Snorlax: Body Slam, Rock Tomb, Curse, Ice Punch (leaving no room for Rest but feh, details)**

 **Tobias' Team:**

 **Darkrai: Dark Pulse, Dark Void, Dream Eater, Ice Beam (all shown in the anime)**

 **Latios: Luster Purge, Light Screen, Giga Impact, Thunderbolt (Latios only went against Pikachu and Sceptile in the anime, so Thunderbolt wouldn't have been useful then)**

 **Slowking: Trick Room, Power Gem, Shadow Ball, one unknown move**

 **Gengar: Will-o-Wisp, Hex, Substitute, Destiny Bond**

 **So that's about all I have to talk about. Remember, consistency is important (except in chapter length). Something that the anime seems to forget.**


End file.
